New York Daily News

Dellin readies arb pitch

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TAMPA — Dellin Betances’ arbitratio­n hearing with the Yankees looms later this week, but Joe Girardi is hoping it doesn’t affect his flamethrow­ing reliever. Betances’ representa­tives and the Yankees will meet before a third party on Feb. 17 in order to determine whether he gets $3 million or $5 million for the 2017 season.

“If I feel that it does affect him, I will talk to him,” Girardi said Tuesday. “Obviously, this is the part of the game that somewhat becomes public and sometimes can be frustratin­g for both sides. You have to be able to move on.

“When you sign up for this game, it becomes not only a game that you love and you fight and do everything you can to win, but it’s also a business, and you have to balance that. Once he gets through his arbitratio­n case, we’re going to have to put that business behind and move on and focus on the game. Sometimes there can be hard feelings, but that’s something we’ll deal with."”

Betances, who turns 29 March 23, has been a dominant workhorse out of the bullpen for Girardi the past three seasons, pitching to a 1.93 ERA while recording an MLB-high 392 strikeouts in 247 innings.

Betances did struggle in September 2016, allowing 13 runs in 8.1 innings — perhaps, some felt, due to Girardi’s overusage. Betances will pitch in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic.

The Yankees brought back closer Aroldis Chapman on a five-year, $86 million contract, putting Betances in a familiar setup role.

Said Girardi of Chapman, who felt he was overworked by Joe Maddon in Chicago during the playoffs: “It gives me a lot of confidence, having him back. The way he was used in the postseason, he logged a lot of innings. He has a World Series ring because of that and he was a big part of that. Our rules won’t really change with the way we manage our bullpen here. We’ve kind of stuck to those rules. I’ll see where he’s at in spring training and if we have to go a little bit slower, we’ll go a little bit slower because it was an extra month to the season. But we’ll manage him very similar to the way we managed him last year.”

CC WANTS MORE

CC Sabathia turns 37 this year. But heading into his 17th season in the majors, Sabathia says he has a lot more left in the tank.

“If I’m healthy, I want to play as long as I can,” said Sabathia, who is entering the final year of his deal and will make $25 million in 2017.

Sabathia had offseason knee surgery but recovered quickly and says he feels healthy. Asked if he would sign up for 30 starts and 180 innings this season, he said yes . ... Joe Girardi expects $21 million special instructor Alex Rodriguez to be at spring training. “From everything I understand, he’s going to be here,” Girardi said.

 ?? HOWARD SIMMONS/DAILY NEWS ?? Noah Syndergaar­d is off and running at top speed, not answering Mets’ call to ease up on the heat.
HOWARD SIMMONS/DAILY NEWS Noah Syndergaar­d is off and running at top speed, not answering Mets’ call to ease up on the heat.
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